Search form

The Algiers Process is painfully slow and peace is not advancing

The attack on 5 March on the Malian military post in Boulikessi, on the border between Burkina Faso and Mali, is not a surprise for those who know this area. The Algiers Process, focused on the north of the country, and offers few responses to the growing instability in central Mali, which extends to Burkina Faso. The Malian government’s recently envisaged special plan for the centre of the country has not yet seen the light of day. Mali should work with its Burkinabe neighbour, because the Malian crisis has spilled over into that country and it has instability factors that are comparable to those of Mali and other Sahelian countries. These factors include: distrust of the state in neglected zones, the social disappointment of their inhabitants, and the rise of various kinds of armed groups. These root causes of the crisis, which are common to all Sahelian countries, are crucial in the search for sustainable solutions at national and regional levels, including the military plan. The future G5 Sahel regional force, whose creation was announced in February, will, for example, contribute to restoring the bonds of trust with the local populations so that it can carry out its mission. These security responses will not work if they are not accompanied by reinvestment in the areas that have been neglected by public authorities and especially by the development of services for the population. In this way, the difficulties of the Algiers Agreement in progressing and producing results in the north of the country show that it is necessary to consider a more productive amendment to the agreement.